Reddit told investors during its fourth-quarter earnings call that its AI-powered search engine, including its Reddit Answers feature, could become a major product and revenue opportunity as the company works to merge traditional search with generative AI capabilities.

While Reddit’s AI search is not yet monetized, executives described it as an “enormous market and opportunity,” pointing to rapid growth in usage. Weekly active users of Reddit Answers rose sharply over the past year, supporting the company’s expectation that AI-powered answers could contribute to future revenue expansion.

As user expectations around search evolve, Reddit is working to combine traditional navigation-based search with generative AI answers that synthesize discussions from across its communities. The company argues it is particularly strong in answering questions that do not have a single definitive response, where multiple perspectives from real users provide value. By merging its search systems, Reddit aims to make it easier for users to move from discovering conversations to receiving summarized, AI-powered answers.

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman described a category of query where the platform excels: questions that do not have a single definitive answer.

“There’s a type of query we’re, I think, particularly good at — I would argue, the best on the internet — which is questions that have no answers, where the answer actually is multiple perspectives from lots of people,” Huffman said.

Traditional search functions primarily as navigation — helping users find the right subreddit or link. But Huffman suggested large language models (LLMs) can also handle navigation tasks effectively, potentially improving discovery.

Reddit is working to unify its traditional search and AI answers into one experience. In Q4, the company reported “significant progress” toward that integration.

The platform is also modernizing its AI interface by:

Search usage across Reddit continues to expand, reflecting growing engagement with both traditional and AI-powered discovery tools.

Reddit reported:

During the earnings call, executives said they see continued potential in AI-powered answers as adoption accelerates.

In addition, Reddit plans to eliminate the distinction between logged-in and logged-out users beginning in Q3 2026. The company intends to use AI and machine learning to personalize the experience for all visitors, tailoring content regardless of login status. Executives said the goal is to evolve beyond being seen solely as a social platform and become a destination where users come directly for answers.

Beyond product integration, Reddit’s content licensing business continues to grow. This segment allows external companies to train AI models on Reddit’s data.

Revenue from this business — reported under “other” revenues — increased:

Though advertising remains Reddit’s primary revenue source, content licensing and AI search represent additional areas of expansion.

Q: What is Reddit planning to do with AI search?
A: Reddit is merging its traditional search engine with its AI-powered Reddit Answers feature into a unified search experience.

Q: Is Reddit monetizing AI search yet?
A: No. Executives said AI search is not currently monetized but described it as a large future opportunity.

Q: How fast is Reddit Answers growing?
A: Weekly active users grew from 1 million in Q1 2025 to 15 million in Q4 2025.

Q: How does this relate to Reddit’s AI data licensing business?
A: Reddit continues licensing its content to companies training AI models, generating $140 million in 2025 “other” revenue.

Reddit’s AI search strategy indicates the company is treating generative AI as a core layer of how users access and interact with its content, rather than as an add-on feature.

Who should care: Investors, digital publishers, search platforms, AI infrastructure providers, advertisers, and enterprises monitoring how user-generated data intersects with generative AI systems.

Why it matters now: User expectations around search are changing as more people look for synthesized answers instead of lists of links. If Reddit successfully integrates AI answers with its community-driven discussions, it could increase retention, deepen engagement, and reposition the platform as an answer destination rather than only a discussion forum.

What decision this affects: How investors, advertisers, and enterprise partners assess Reddit’s long-term business model — whether it remains primarily an advertising-driven social platform, or develops into an AI-powered knowledge infrastructure with diversified revenue potential.

If generative AI becomes the default interface for navigating collective human experience, platforms that own large archives of authentic conversation may gain strategic leverage over traditional search intermediaries.

Editor’s Note: This article was created by Alicia Shapiro, CMO of AiNews.com, with writing, image, and idea-generation support from ChatGPT, an AI assistant. However, the final perspective and editorial choices are solely Alicia Shapiro’s. Special thanks to ChatGPT for assistance with research and editorial support in crafting this article.